The Affordability Crisis Can Now Add Wages to the Mix

No matter the economic survey or poll, the message is the same thing: Americans are deeply concerned about what they call an affordability crisis. Yet to former hedge fund manager and current Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, it’s a joke — literally. Asked what could be done to get Americans feeling better about the economy during recent testimony in the Senate, Bessent quipped that consumers could “turn off MSNBC,” the left-leaning cable news network now called MS NOW. The response drew several loud laughs from those in attendance.

Perhaps Bessent wouldn’t have been so flippant if the testimony had come after the flood of data last week, which laid bare the challenges facing ordinary Americans, especially the rapidly diminishing leverage of workers.